Being an Ordinary Student Is Hard When Everyone Around You Is This Grand

A silence swept over the classroom like a bucket of ice water. I could feel the frozen moment beginning to thaw, time lurching back into motion.

Ah. I am so thoroughly screwed.

"Uh…? Peace…? You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠haven't even done your introduction yet……?"

Even Yuzuru, who had been standing at the teacher's desk, seemed unable to grasp what had just happened.

Which was fair enough. From where they were standing, Peace had crossed the entire classroom and closed the distance to me in less time than it takes to blink.

"…I'm Shiota Peace. As you can see, I'm a beastkin, so my legs are a bit quick."

It was a perfectly plausible excuse, but nowhere near enough to quell the stunned horror of my classmates. Peace shamelessly flashed a smile and gave my shoulder a pat.

"And this one here is a Celestial student who transferred in with me. He's my enemy—ah, no, wait, my friend. Isn't that right?"

Peace put deliberate weight on the word friend and stared at me. Her eyes were screaming, Deny it and see what happens.

Peace, I am genuinely terrified right now. Under normal circumstances I'd have let it slide, but for some reason—probably Flügel's presence—she'd lost her composure too, and her edges had gone razor-sharp.

Speaking of which, at some point Flügel's wings had gone from six back down to a single pair, as befitting an ordinary Celestial. A disguise, presumably.

"By the way, Otonashi…? Was there really no need for you to say anything…?"

Ah… it seemed time had resumed flowing right from my little scream at the end there.

Yeah. I am really screwed…….

God, I'm exhausted. Is this what they call 'fatigue'? Or was a normal school life simply never in the cards for me to begin with?

"I was going to demonstrate how fast the Celestial student here is, so I said there was no need to bother."

Peace defended herself as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but by this world's common sense, a beastkin pummeling a Celestial wasn't just defying the natural order—it was an outright miracle.

No, actually, the real horror was that beings of that caliber were having this conversation right next to me.

"Fufu, I was just playing a little prank. I'm Shiota Flügel. Pleasure to meet you all~☆

Unfortunately… they didn't have a uniform in my size, so I'll start wearing it from tomorrow~"

Flügel, at least, seemed quick on the uptake. Yuzuru, sensing the murderous tension crackling between Peace and Flügel, shot a glance at the pale students in the nearby seats and silently directed them to move.

It was a desperate stopgap measure from a teacher trying to keep the situation from escalating. Wearing a strained smile, Nuna positioned the two of them on either side of me.

"Now then… shall we, ah, begin class…?"

And with that, we somehow survived first period.

Then I grabbed the back of my neck.

Wait—is she wearing clothes or not? Among a room full of ordinary uniforms, Flügel's outfit was practically a rules violation.

Fragile scraps of fabric draped precariously along the core lines of her figure, radiating at once the dignified majesty of the Heavenly King and an absolutely shameless allure.

Every step she took revealed another stretch of smooth skin, another curve of that silhouette, and feeling my face start to burn, I hastily shrugged off my uniform jacket to drape it over her shoulders.

The instant the jacket settled, I felt a chilling wave of killing intent at my back. I hadn't even turned around, and already my spine was crawling.

"First, Flügel…-sshi? Please follow Yuzuru-nuna and take care of the transfer paperwork……."

"As you comm… ah, no—of course, Otonashi-sama."

Fortunately, Flügel apparently didn't want to make things too miserable for me. Small mercies.

"H-how on earth…… are you acquainted with the Heavenly King……?"

Lucia was so rattled she could barely get the words out.

"To give you the short version: I met the Heavenly King for the first time today, same as you. As for Peace… that conversation would take a while."

Lucia seemed to have subtly picked up on the fact that I'd started expressing my emotions lately.

"…I see… it's my first time seeing things get this complicated in a single day, too. To the Celestials, the Heavenly King is a figure of both nobility and supreme grace."

-Pfft!

"Ah… excuse me……."

Peace said, while very much laughing.

"…I've never even heard of a beastkin skilled enough to knock the Heavenly King around… just who—what are you……?"

Lucia's voice was trembling. It wasn't a question born of reverence for the Heavenly King—it came from something far more primal. Fear.

"Before that—have you ever actually seen the Heavenly King, Lucia?"

"Among Celestials, the Heavenly King's name isn't something you speak of lightly in the first place. That's the only reason I recognized her as the Heavenly King at all."

The atmosphere had turned distinctly unhealthy, so I decided on deflection.

"Shall we head to second period? It's Yuzuru-nuna's mythology lecture."

Thankfully, the bell rang right then.

***

"Today's lesson is about the age of myth. People usually think of the era before the Age of Chaos, but the Age of Chaos itself arrived at least several thousand years ago."

Because of that, materials from the pre-Chaos generation were treated as archaeologist crackpot territory. Some of it was surprisingly practical, though…

"Here, in the records from the age of myth, it says that four kings stood guard to hold back the incursions of outside entities.

That's why they're called the Four Emperors. Thankfully, some of the mythic-era records survive even in modern history books."

The other students learned history through holograms and immersive virtual reality, but honestly, I preferred learning from a book.

Peace, reading over the history text, was muttering that this part at least was accurate. A fairly positive review.

Flügel, too, was conceding that the passages mentioning her were correct.

But then they saw what I was writing down in my notes.

"Master, this part is wrong. Allow me to correct it for you."

"Aahn~ Master, the fingers you're writing with are far too sexy. It's like you're touching me~♥︎"

They were whispering directly into my ears. Ha… honestly, I could feel my soul leaving my body.

"Let me introduce the Four Emperors as they're recorded… First, the King of the Celestials, the Heavenly King. 'Savior of the Celestial Realm, the one who guides the light.' So it is written.

The records describe the Heavenly King as a dignified and sacred being."

Hmm… judging by Flügel's behavior, she was about as far from 'dignified and sacred' as it was possible to get…….

"Next is the Dragon King. 'King of the dragonkin, guardian of the Dragon's Land, the one who promises victory.' So it says.

She's known to be an aggressive personality—a born brawler."

'The Dragon King really does have a combative personality. Yuzuru did her research well. This deserves praise.'

Peace sent the thought straight into my head.

"Next, the Demon King. 'Ruler of the Demon Realm, King of the demonkin, the herald of destruction—the strongest of the Four Emperors.'

As the demonkin tell it, if she were still active today, she'd be called the Great Demon King."

'Tch. That part isn't wrong, Master… that Demon King woman is the only one who could ever beat me….'

Flügel also sent it via telepathy. Wait, you can do that too…….

"And last, the least-recorded of them all: the High Spirit King, guide of nature, the one who embodies harmony—the Spirit King.

Regrettably, the Spirit King is only mentioned a single time in all of mythology, so little is known in detail."

"Yuzuru-sensei, so if the Four Emperors fought each other, who would win?"

It was the big beastkin student who'd once asked Yuzuru-nuna what 'contemplation' meant.

"Hmm… going by common wisdom and my personal opinion—the Demon King is strongest, then the Heavenly King, then the Dragon King, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Spirit King last."

'Yuzuru has really done her homework. It's true—if we threw down without our ranks, that Demon King woman would beat us and then some.'

Peace sent that one to me as well.

'Peace-sama~ sending Master that kind of telepathy—isn't it putting him in an awkward position?'

Flügel seemed to be gently checking her. Frankly, from my standpoint, Peace was the more useful one at the moment.

But wait—Peace was a spirit this whole time? No wonder she got so upset about being classified as a furry.

'Finally, you acknowledge it… sob… thank you…….'

And stop reading my thoughts and replying, obviously.

"Yuzuru-sensei, I have a question."

"Hm? What is it?"

"If someone wanted to see the Spirit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠King, how would they go about it?"

Lucia asked Yuzuru-nuna.

"The reason the Spirit King is only mentioned once in mythology is that she's a high spirit.

High spirits themselves are beings of myth. So this is just my speculation, but since she would be nature itself, I imagine she could take the form of a beastkin—or perhaps an elf?"

At that, Lucia wore a look of understanding. And then she glanced, one after the other, at the two monarchs flanking me.

The monarchs themselves couldn't have cared less, but cold sweat was pouring down my back. Ah… so this is what they call the fear of being found out…….

'Hey, Flügel? Want to settle this with a Mak'gora later?'

'Ha! Do you truly believe you could win?'

'I grab your wing and hit you with a piledriver—one hit, you're done!'

'Taking the grappler route, are we? Then I shall counter with the Lance of Radiance——'

"Urgh!"

A thin groan escaped me before I could stop it, and Yuzuru-nuna looked over in concern.

"Otonashi? You okay? Lucia, could you take him to the nurse's office?"

"Yes, Yuzuru-sensei."

And so, apparently suffering from a headache, I ended up heading to the nurse's office with Lucia.

"Shiota-sshi, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Some painkillers and water and it'll settle down."

"…Peace-sshi is the Spirit King, isn't she?"

Lucia cut straight to the point, no preamble whatsoever. Faced with her calm but weighty question, I turned my gaze to the afternoon sunlight spilling through the infirmary window.

In my head, Peace and Flügel were still trading telepathic threats, each promising to yank out the other's hair.

Lucia looked like she wouldn't retreat a single step until I answered.

I let out a sigh, lifted my head, and met her eyes directly.

"…What makes you think Peace is the Spirit King?"

"Two reasons. First, a being who matched the Heavenly King in raw power should not, by any logic, be a mere beastkin.

Second, a being of that caliber recognizes you as her 'Master.'"

"I'm… the Spirit King's master……."

"Remember when you were meditating before? The spirit shamans said you had exceptional spirit affinity.

And the Spirit King is a high spirit—a being of pure, condensed natural energy, and……"

Lucia was utterly certain of it. There was no talking my way out now…….

"And Celestials have danger-sense as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sharp as any beastkin's. The moment Peace-sshi first walked into the classroom, I felt an instinctive terror of death.

So listen to me, Shiota-sshi—you need to get your head on straight. If you want to be an ordinary student, you need to learn that sometimes it's okay to get angry."

Lucia didn't seem to be interrogating me so much as worrying about me. And that, more than anything, was what actually moved me to act.

'You two. Enough.'

I sent the thought to both of them. It was a simple matter. Thanks to those two having so helpfully wired a telepathic link into my brain without asking, the channel was already open. Down that channel, I poured my mana in the shape of a single word: will.

As natural as giving a command to a pet.

'Master… we apologize…….'

'Aaahn…… Master has scolded me…….'

So this is… the emotion called anger? No—it's not quite that. More likely, all that fatigue built up into stress, and what I'd just gotten back was the emotion called irritation.

***